When we think of maturity, in any sense of the word, our minds immediately rush to two things: wisdom and age. Not just any age, mind you, but advanced age. The young (or at least whoever is young relative to ourselves) immediately bear the brunt of our indignation towards the stunted or minimal nature of moral development. We look back at our own youth and shake our heads at our foolhardy and even shameful behavior, curling our lips back in disgust at what we call "immaturity." And this immaturity, again, seems to be tied not solely to the sinful nature we once harbored but with limited age and life experience.
I would like to challenge the absoluteness of this framework by suggesting that the youngest amongst us, babies, actually embody a wonderful image of spiritual maturity.
In Mark 10, the disciples rebuke a crowd for seemingly bombarding Jesus with children, that He might touch and bless them. Jesus in turn rebukes His disciples:
"But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." Mark 10: 14-15
What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a child? Well, based off the passage, it seems to have something to do with coming freely to God to receive His care and love for us. Children typically do not hesitate to ask for what they desire and for what they need. If they're hungry, they'll be the first to let you know. If they're sleepy, they'll quietly lift up their arms in a gesture that wordlessly beckons Mom to carry them off to bed. They understand on a very simple level how the relationship between their parents and themselves works. They don't question it or rebel against it; they simply accept that their parents are there to meet their needs, and they welcome that shamelessly.
Babies are at the pinnacle of this practice of freely receiving, of accepting one's place in the parent-child liaison. Babies love to be pampered, cuddled, held, burped, fed, played with, rocked to sleep, the whole thing. Many will agree with me when I say a baby's laugh is one of the purest things you will ever encounter on this earth. There seems to be something inherently delightful and altogether good in that laugh, in that infant's pure gladness at whatever it is you have just given it (a funny face, a hug, some milk). Little babies live in a state of full dependency and live in full enjoyment of that dependency. They will never hesitate to receive care or strive to earn that care. And, like toddlers, they will cry or tap you or gently- or not so gently- tug on your hair to let you know that they are in need.
I believe that at the pinnacle of our spiritual maturity, when we have a fuller and deeper understanding of the Father's love for us and our place within that relationship as fully dependent children, we may also live in a free and unabashed enjoyment of that reality. We will so greatly rejoice in God's love for us, for His desire to not only remove sin but exchange it for wonderful spiritual fruits, that we will eagerly accept His blessings in the knowledge that each gift from God and each necessary nourishment reveals His glory, reminds us of His goodness. Indeed, God is glorified when we freely receive His love for us.
As we are sanctified in Christ through the Holy Spirit, we begin the return to that infant-like state this time not through the bliss of ignorance, but through the bliss of the knowledge of the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ.
Well if babies can do it so easily, why do some of us have such a hard time with this? As we can see in the passage, there are often times forces that seek to hinder us from liberally receiving the touch and blessing of Jesus. Are you the one hindering yourself and rebuking yourself for coming to God in perfect dependency and shameless need? Is it the Enemy? Is it an overbearing society or authority figure that insists you earn every good thing? Is it your pride in wanting to earn things? Is it the guilt of your past or the belief that God could never forgive you for what you've done? Is it the lie that you should never forgive yourself, even if God has?
Pray for God to reveal the obstacle and have faith that He will obliterate it. To go forwards, in one sense we must make like a Hobbit and go "there and back again."
A second pondering on babies, if you will: babies allow us to better understand not only how we should go before God but also how God truly views us.
Babies are the only humans that we love and give ourselves to without question, despite the fact that we know they are born into a sinful nature; once they grow up, that stops generally unless we are the parents. Many parents continue to view their grown up college kids as their babies, their little boys and girls. Despite all the upheaval of our teenage years, despite all the times we spat in their faces or let them down with our poor decisions, they continue to see before them the babies they brought home from the hospital, swaddled snuggly and warmly. Granted, some of us grew up in broken homes (myself included) and our parents may seldom exhibit this tenderness; some parents don't exhibit this at all. But the ones that do, the times where it does shine through, are living examples of God's grace.
A month or two ago, I saw a video on the news of a mother crying after finding the man who had saved her son from a burning car on a St. Louis freeway. The man had risked his own life to pull the young man out of the car, even as the flames raged and the engine combusted.
When the woman and her sister found her child's rescuer, she burst into frame-wracking tears and hugged the man and cried, "My guardian angel saved my baby. This man, hallelujah, thank you Jesus!"
Her baby. Her son was a 20-something year old, far from being a newborn. I'm sure there were ways in which he had also failed her, ways in which he had worried her sick. Yet still, he was her baby. And she blessed the Lord for protecting her child and for saving him from destruction, for granting him the grace safety.
Consider the following passages, where God reflects on His chosen people in the midst of a season of heinous rebellion and idolatry:
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Even though she may forget, I will not forget you." Isaiah 49:15
"Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord." Jeremiah 31: 20
For context, the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah spend quite a bit of time condemning Israel and Judah for their sins against the Lord, for their abandonment of God and their eagerness to leave their Husband for idols and their Father for empty, worldly "provision." Yet despite the evils committed, God expresses parental love for His chosen children. He compares Himself and claims to even exceed the natural tenderness and devotion of a mother breastfeeding her baby; this image is soft, full of an innate sensitivity and gentleness. And even when our understanding of this phenomenon on a human level wrings the depths of our hearts, God's proclamation of a loving intimacy infinitely surpassing this blows our minds. More than this, we understand that just as that mother will always view her grown up baby with the same eyes, with the same heart bursting with affection, despite the child's mistakes, God views His children in Christ with those same eyes. No matter our sin, He yearns for us, desires to provide for us, and sees us a His little babies, lovable and clothed in innocence bought by Jesus. We see in the Jeremiah passage that God acknowledges that there are times when He had spoken against Ephraim (a son of Joseph and founder of the Israelite tribe Manasseh) due to Ephraim's sin; even so, He will nevertheless have mercy of him because God remembers His "darling child", much like the mother in the video remembered her 23-year-old as her "baby."
So the next time you condemn yourself for your shortcomings or tell yourself God can never forgive your sins, remember the way He sees you and recall the fondness a parent has over a crying, innocent baby. You are His darling child, and He will be as careful with you as you might be with a newborn, as gentle, as soft, as loving. To Him, through Christ, you will share in that purity, that perfect innocence.
Comments